The present invention relates generally to an improved system for anchoring carpeting to the floor, and more particularly to an improved carpet tack strip whose base or substrate is formed from a synthetic resinous formulation capable of being penetrated by tack elements and pre-nail elements, with those elements being tightly lodged and retained in the strip.
Carpet securing elements, commonly called "tack strip" has long been used to retain the edge portions of floor carpeting in place. In accordance with the prior art, this tack strip comprises a plywood base, typically four feet in length and one inch wide, which is passed through a nailing machine used to insert a large plurality of nails or tacks through the thickness dimension of the strip so that they project from the upper surface thereof at a predetermined angle. The strip may also be provided with pre-nails which are nail elements also inserted through the plywood base but intended to be hammered down so as to fasten the tack strip to a wooden or concrete floor surface.
Typically, the substrates used to retain the tacks and pre-nails in place are produced from large plywood sheets which are cut into strips. This process tends to be quite wasteful with approximately four percent of a plywood sheet being converted to sawdust and scrap as the saw blades pass through to create the strips of a desired width. Moreover, when subjected to the nailing process, the plywood strips will frequently splinter, resulting in further rejects and waste. When splintering occurs as the strips are being fed through the tack inserting machinery, it becomes necessary to shut down the production while the jam is cleared. This, too, increases the manufacturing cost beyond that which it should be.
The prior art tack strips with plywood base creates still further problems during the carpet installation process. First of all, the plywood substrates are rigid and cannot be formed around corners. This requires frequent cutting of the strips as the worker progresses around the perimeter of the room. Because of the inconsistencies and irregularities in the plywood material, the retaining force afforded to the tacks is inconsistent and when the carpet is stretched and forced onto the tacks, they sometimes are loosened to the point where they can swivel and no longer serve to provide an adequate anchoring force. Plywood tack strips can only be used once and cannot be removed and reused because the removal process destroys the substrate.
Still another problem associated with the prior art plywood substrate tack strip comes into play when such tack strip is adhesively bonded rather than nailed to, say, a concrete floor prior to carpeting. It can happen due to manufacturing irregularities in the fabrication of the plywood from which the strips are cut that discontinuities exist between lamination. When the pulling force of the stretched carpet is applied, the wood layers delaminate requiring removal and replacement.